The Nease volleyball team's attempt to defend its Class 4A state championship ended with a 3-2 loss to Bishop Kenny on Tuesday night in the regional semifinals.

BK's 25-18, 19-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-9 win sends it on to the regional finals against the winner of the Wakulla-Gulf Breeze match.

For Nease (27-3), it was a stinging end to a season that appeared to have all the makings for its fourth consecutive trip to the state semifinals. But mistakes altered that path. The Panthers committed seven errors of some variety in the decisive game.

"We had some crucial mistakes," said Nease coach C.J. Sherman. "Bishop Kenny is not a team you mess around with. We've played some teams in the past that you can do that with (errors). You can't allow that to happen against them."

In a see-saw battle in a packed gym, the Panthers lost control in the fifth game. After going into a 3-0 hole, Nease worked its way to a pair of ties at 4 and 6 but couldn't find its footing. And by the time the Panthers found it again, they were in a hole that they just couldn't claw their way out of.

"You know, the fifth game in this intense of a match is just a battle," said Crusaders coach Suzanne Winkler. "It's all about momentum. We had leads in other games and we couldn't hold it. In that (fifth) game it became a little more real to our players what they had to do to get it done."

Nease's 13th service error of the match, and second of the game, gave the Crusaders a 7-6 lead, and one that they wouldn't give back. BK rattled off four consecutive points, including a deft shot down the left side of the court by Cari Whitmire. Nease would make a couple more mistakes, mishandling a serve and then hitting a return long.

Fittingly, the match ended on a hit into the net.

Sherman did her best to put things in perspective, saying that Nease had nothing to be ashamed of.

"It hurts now, but in the grand scheme of things ... it just wasn't meant to be," Sherman said. "I'm a little disappointed, but it's a great season. You can't take anything away from a 27-3 season."

Nease played its best at the ends of games, rattling off seven of the final eight points to break an 18-all tie and win the second game, and then rallying from as many as five down late to win the third. The Panthers just couldn't turn the corner when they needed it the most. In a two-point hole at the end of the fourth, they gave up three straight. Two of those were mistakes -- a service error and a bad set -- that helped inject the Crusaders (20-9) with the momentum that Winkler said that they couldn't afford to let slip away.

It was a rare loss of composure for Nease, which had won six consecutive playoff matches and returned virtually intact from last season's state championship run. And for BK, it was a measure of redemption. The Crusaders lost to Nease in the state semifinals last season.

"I remembered it clearly," said Whitmire of the 2008 semifinals, which Nease won 3-1. "Going in to this, that was big motivation."

Whitmire had 14 kills, and four of the Crusaders' final 15 points. BK's Amanda Liguori led all players with 19 kills.

"I don't want to speak for the Nease coaches, but I think this, to me, felt like a state final," Winkler said.

Nease outside hitter Holland Hoefnagel said the loss didn't tarnish what the Panthers accomplished. Nease is 57-5 over the last two seasons, one of the best records in the state over that stretch. "I feel this season wasn't a waste or a letdown at all, no matter how it ended," she said. "We still showed up to play and we had some great moments."

For Nease, Hoefnagel had a double-double (13 kills, 10 points). Cheyenne Tiffany led the Panthers with 15 kills. Cangelosi followed with 13 and Taylor Permenter 11.

Kamryn Sherman led with 43 assists and completed her double-double with 14 digs. Mariah McCallum (28 digs) and Ashley Weinzimmer (10 digs) led the defense.